Introducing The Brand New Techlore Sponsorship Program! 🎉
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Introducing The Brand New Techlore Sponsorship Program! 🎉
We're releasing a brand new sponsorship program at Techlore to help us continue spreading privacy and security to the masses!
It feels like just yesterday we launched our initial sponsorship program on Techlore, but it was way back in November 2021! Coming up on two years later, I’m excited to announce our brand new sponsorship program to keep Techlore expanding to the world 🌎
Why Sponsors? 🧐
I’m been fairly vocal regarding my criticisms of crowdfunding. Not because I don’t think it’s a fantastic model that’s about as pure and intimate as it gets, but because not enough people partake in it. We receive hundreds of thousands of views a month on YouTube with over 200,000 subscribers—and yet we currently have under 200 people on Patreon. And there isn’t a lack of exposure—these patrons are showcased in our descriptions, at the end of nearly every video, in pinned comments, and in other areas like our website’s homepage. I don’t think there’s any more ‘convincing’ that can be done, nor should I need to. People have every right to decide where they spend their money, and to our current patrons: I’m forever grateful for the amount of support you give us! You actively enable us to independently do what we do ❤️
Quick Maths: If just 1% of all our YouTube viewers last month contributed $1 to Techlore, we would have made 5x the amount of money we currently make on Patreon. While crowdfunding is massively important, I don’t think it can be a significant revenue source. And this seems to be a common theme with other creators as well.
For Context: A single sponsored video through our old sponsorship program brought in more money for Techlore than a whole month of supporters on Patreon!
Money is important. Not just because we’re real people who pay for rent and groceries, but because Techlore is something I want to continue expanding. To do this we need money for production equipment, devices to keep up with demanding workflows, devices to perform reviews, hosting for all our various projects, and the numerous other expenses incurred on a monthly basis.
Does any of this mean our supporters on Patreon and other platforms aren’t massively important in allowing us to remain independent? Absolutely not, they’re indispensable—and we’ll continue needing more of you as time goes on. But I want to outline how sponsors can directly push us to new limits, allowing us to spread privacy and security to audiences never seen before. All alongside our patrons.
What Went Wrong? 😮💨
Some of you may have noticed earlier this year we ceased video sponsor segments through our old program. This came down to a few issues:
Producing dedicated sponsor segments added time to our production workflow, especially since multiple production steps required coordinating with our sponsors. We had to delay numerous videos just in the name of making sure the sponsor segment was done properly and to everyone’s standards (our own, our audience, and our sponsor)
We universally fell behind on many things. Sponsors-aside, we were already struggling with too much work and not enough time to do it. I felt it was more important to prioritize getting caught up, which required pausing our sponsorship program until we were back on our feet.
I personally felt our sponsor format of ~1 minute video segments made our content feel less genuine. Which was neither beneficial to our audience nor our sponsors.
Taking what I learned from the previous program, I am thrilled to announce our new sponsorship program is here! 🎉
The New Sponsor Program! 🆕
Our new sponsorship program is very exciting as it’s more diverse, versatile, and simpler for everyone involved. Previously, we only offered 1 minute sponsored video segments. We’re dropping these and offering sponsorship offerings for:
Our videos (featured in the outro through video and/or audio)
Our forum (featured in the sidebar)
Our SPA quiz (featured before starting and after finishing)
Our videos via product placement (no tech companies allowed for this one)
Dedicated sponsored video showcases (like our Cake Pay video)
These new sponsor options vary in medium, audience, commitment, price-point, and creativity! You can view a lot more information as well as apply for each specific type of sponsor here. As always, all sponsors must respect our strict sponsorship protocols.
‘What does this mean for me?’ 🙋
If you’re a viewer, rest-assured our content and resources will remain independent. Our protocols are thorough and no sponsor is ever worth our reputation.
If you’re developing services, rest-assured we are still no more likely to recommend you over anyone else because of a sponsorship. Our resources have their own dedicated criteria ensuring we remain independent.
If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, visit our sponsorship guide to partner up so we can showcase you!
Most importantly, what this means for everyone is:
✅ More Techlore content
✅ Better quality Techlore content
✅ Better performing Techlore content
✅ More projects and initiatives we’ve been unable to start due to time and/or financial limitations
Final Words ✌️
We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for the following people:
All of our original sponsors. Cake Wallet, LocalMonero, Privacy.com, and Abine DeleteMe who all believed in our mission and gave us a shot in showcasing their brands. We wouldn’t have got this far without them, nor would we have been able to put together these new protocols without them!
Everyone who I talked to behind-the-scenes for advice forming these new protocols. You know exactly who you are—you all massively helped me put this together ❤️
Each and every one of our viewers, who welcomed our introduction to sponsors in 2021 with open (but still wary!) arms. You all stayed skeptical, but gave us a shot to prove to you we could do sponsorships in an ethical way that wouldn’t compromise on our quality and reputation.